From aespa to Stray Kids to BTS: Is NASA Obsessed with K-pop?
K-pop idols were mentioned on the official account of NASA, creating a buzz
On July 26th, NASA’s official SNS account explained the remnants of a supernova explosion, directly referencing song titles or lyrics from K-pop groups, such as “Chk chk boom” and “su-su-su-supernova“.
“Chk chk boom” is the title track of Stray Kids‘ 9th mini album “ATE”, officially released on July 19th. “Su-su-su-supernova” is a lyric from “Supernova”, one of the double title tracks from aespa’s first full album “Armageddon”, released on May 13th.
Both songs gained immense popularity upon release. The music video for “Chk chk boom”, which garnered attention with surprise appearances by Hollywood actors Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, surpassed 53.83 million views within a week of its release.
aespa’s “Supernova” also topped the domestic music sites Melon and Genie’s weekly charts (July 8th~14th) announced on July 15th, breaking the record for the longest time at No.1 for a song released this year. Additionally, aespa achieved a triple crown on the Circle Chart’s June monthly charts (Global K-pop chart, Digital chart, Streaming chart) with “Supernova”.
Netizens are amused by NASA’s mention of K-pop groups. Comments include, “NASA, are you a Stay? (Stray Kids’ fandom name)“, “NASA mentioned Stray Kids and aespa!“, “When NASA becomes a Stay“, “su-su-su-supernova” and “Stray Kids X NASA.“
Previously, on June 23rd, 2020, NASA mentioned BTS’s Jin, which became a hot topic. On that day, NASA posted a photo of the moon on Twitter (now X) with the caption, “The Moon already belongs to everybody, even Seokjin.” The post surpassed 300,000 retweets within a day, showcasing the power of ARMYs worldwide.
